1. Field
An air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air conditioners are appliances for maintaining a desired air temperature in a room. For example, the air conditioner may operate to cool the room, heat the room, and adjust the humidity in the room. Specifically, the air conditioner drives a refrigeration cycle in which compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation of a refrigerant are performed, and thus may perform a cooling or heating operation for the room.
The air conditioner may be either a separate-type air conditioner in which an inside unit and an outside unit are separated, or an integrated air conditioner in which the inside unit and the outside unit are combined. The outside unit typically includes an outside heat exchanger which exchanges heat with outside air, and the inside unit typically includes an inside heat exchanger which exchanges heat with the inside air. The air conditioner may be operated in a cooling mode or a heating mode.
When the air conditioner is operated in the cooling mode, the outside heat exchanger functions as a condenser, and the inside heat exchanger functions as an evaporator. On the other hand, when the air conditioner is operated in the heating mode, the outside heat exchanger functions as an evaporator, and the inside heat exchanger functions as a condenser.
Generally, when an outside air temperature where the air conditioner is installed is higher or lower than a set temperature, a sufficient amount of refrigerant circulation should be ensured in order to obtain the desired cooling and heating performance. This generally requires a large capacity compressor, which is costly to manufacture and install.
To solve this problem, systems have been developed whereby refrigerant is injected inside a scroll compressor using a refrigerant injection flow path. See, e.g., Korean Application No. 10-1280381. For example, as described in Korean Application No. 10-1280381, first and second refrigerant injection ports are formed. The ports allow refrigerant to be injected twice while the refrigeration cycle is operated. However, when the outside air temperature is very high or low, it is difficult to obtain the sufficient amount of refrigerant circulation in order to ensure the desired cooling and heating performance using only two injections.